Tasnim – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi hailed the achievement of the cast and crew of ‘The Salesman’ for winning the second Oscar for Iran.

On Sunday, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s movie won the 2017 Academy Award for best foreign-language film.

Qasssemi on Monday congratulated the cast and crew of the movie as well as the Iranian cultural and art community over the achievement.

“Once again … the ambassadors of Iranian art in international arts circles managed to convey to the world the voice of the noble Iranian nation, which is the voice of culture, civilization, dignity and national honor,” he said.

It is a great pleasure that once again the proficient and diligent Iranian director, via his and his colleagues’ language of art, managed to deliver the Iranian people’s message of peace and friendship to the world, Qassemi added.

The Salesman had already won two awards at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival last May and was also nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award among several other nationwide and universal recognitions.

Farhadi won Iran’s first-ever Academy Award with domestic drama A Separation in the 2012 Oscars.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qassemi praised the “brave” decision by Farhadi and The Salesman star Taraneh Alidoosti to boycott the Oscars ceremony over US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning visitors from seven Muslim countries from entering the US.

It showed that the voice of moderation and seeking peace continues to reverberate in the world in spite of the behavior of all extremists and unilateralists, the spokesman stressed.

Since Farhadi was not present at the event to claim the Oscar for his film, Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari accepted the award on his  behalf. She read out a statement written by the director, explaining Farhadi’s decision for not attending the ceremony.

“My absence is out of respect for the people of my country,” Farhadi said in the statement, calling the ban “inhumane.”

“Diving the world into the US and our enemies categories creates fear,” the statement continued.

Last month, Farhadi said that he would not take part in the awards, even after receiving special permission to attend.